Safety fuse outlet plug



y 1947' c. MANTILLA ET AL 2,423,512

SAFETY FUSE OUTLET PLUG Filed Jan. 10, 1946 2/ I IIQK I], 54 Hvn LJ /Z l g E Z Inventor 4 I Cm zos MIT/ALA czhw TG AFF/A/ B, 24mm WWW 19% Patented July 8, 1947 UNITED STATE S PATENT OFFICE SAFETY FUSE OUTLET PLUG Carlos Mantilia and John T. Graflin, Lima, Peru Application January 10, 1946, Serial No. 640,330

A further object of this invention is to Provide an electric plug for a conventional outlet in which is provided a series of fuses so arranged that by a simple short rotation of the device a live fuse may instantly replace a dead, or burned out, fuse.

A further object ofour invention is to provide an electric plug in rotatably connected sections carrying a series of fuses each of which is adapted alternately to bridge a gap between a pair of terminals.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a plug for use on electrical appliance cords, which plug is provided with a fuse (or plurality of fuses) which will blow through any short-cirsuiting of the particular appliance, thus not affecting the building fuse whereby the trouble is localized to the plug without affecting the building system.

Another object is to provide a combination plug and switch. a

Other features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings in which:

Figure ,1 is a plan view of one member of our plus.

Figure 2- is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2 thereof, y

Figure 3 is a plan view of a plug cap,

Figure-4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2, and c.

Figure 5 is a similar view looking from line 5-5 of Figure 2.

In the above drawings as well as in the speciflcation to follow, the same characters of referenoe indicate the same parts throughout.

While one embodiment of our invention is illustrated in the above referred to drawings, it is to. be understood that they are merely for the purpose of illustration and that various changes in construction may be resorted to in the course of manufacture in order that the invention may be utilized to the best advantage according to circumstances which may arise, without in any way departing from the spirit and intention of our device, which is to be limited only in accordance with the appended claims. And while we have stated the primary field of utility of our invention'it remains obvious that it may be employed in any other capacity wherein it may be found applicable.

Our invention designated by the reference zoo-115.5)

character Ill, consists of three separable members l I, I2 and I3. The latter member is a plug cap, which can be dismissed with the statement that it is provided with a relatively deep wall l4, having a threaded bore l5, whereby it may be screwed upon the threaded free end l8,of a tube i I.

bores in the insulator cartridge disk i2, through the insulator disk 20, and screws into the body 2|, of the member I l. and abuts the insulator disk 22, and whereby it is secured to said member II. .The fuse cartridge member I2, is rotatable upon the tube I1, and its peripheral edge 23, pro iects slightly beyond the peripheral surface 24, of the member Ii, whereby. the said member [2, may be rotated by the fingers of a user without otherwise disturbing the plug.-

The reduced inner part 34, 0f the body 2|, is bored to form the seat IQ, for the disk 20. The enlarged outer portion 35, is also bored as at 36, to provide a seat for the disk 22. Mounted on the disk 22, is a conductor prong 31, the base 38, of which is secured by the screw 39, the base being arcuate and extending to the binding screw 40, to which a circuit wire (not shown) may be attached. 4

Also mounted upon the disk 22, is another spaced conductor prong 4|, attached thereto by a contact post 42. Spaced apart from the latter post is another contact post 43, to which is attached the conductor 44, which in turn is held by a binding screw 45, to which a circuit wire is to be attached. It is, of course, understood that lead wires are projected through the tube l1, and the terminals thereof attached to the binding screws 40 and 45, respectively; the circ it b tween these wires, however, can not be closed except when the gap 46, between the heads of the contact posts 42 and 43, are bridged.

The inner end of the tube Il extends through The disk l2, as before stated is rotatable upon tact posts 42 and 43, to bridge said gap 46.

outwardly of each fuse on the cartridge l2, and

aligning with the fuse wires are small recesses 50,

adapted to be snapped into by the ball end 5|, of a leaf spring 52, pinned at 53, to the peripheral edge 54, of member H, the click of the action of the ball dropping into the recess will indicate that one of the fuses is in engagement with said terminals 48 and 49.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have designed an appliance plug through the use of which, when a short occurs in any appliance to which the plug is attached through a conductor cord, and a blow-out occurs, the blown fuse will be in the plug itself and not in the main fuse box. thus avoiding disruption of the entire system connected by a main fuse. And it will also be seen that another fuse connection may be made in a second simply by rotating the fuse cartridge l9, a fraction of a turn. Also when all of (the fuses on a cartridge have been exhausted, it will be only a matter of a minute to substitute another fresh cartridge.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Changes in shape, size and rearrangement of details and parts such as come within the purview of the invention claimed may be resorted to, in actual practice, if desired.

Having now described our invention that which we claim as new and desire to procure by-Letters Patent is:

1. A fuse protected attachment plug which includes a body having an axial opening therein, a tubular stem projecting from one side of the body in axial alignment with the opening, a pair of spaced parallel contact prongs projecting from the body opposite the stem, a binding screw by which a conductor may be electrically coupled with one of the prongs, a contact post extending through the body and coupled electrically with the opposite prong, a second contact post extending through the body in spaced parallel relation to the first mentioned contact post, a binding screw to couple a conductor to the second mentioned contact post, a disk of non-conducting material mounted to rotate on the stem and an annular row of spaced radially extendingfuse wires carried by the disk selectively to engage the contact posts and bridge the gap therebetween.

2. A fuse protected attachment plug which includes a body having an axial opening therein, a tubular stem projecting from one side of the body in axial alignment with the opening, a pair of spaced parallel contact prongs projecting from the 'body opposite the stem, a binding screw by which a conductor may be electrically coupled with one of the prongs, a. contact post extending through the body and coupled electrically with the opposite prong, a second contact post extending through the body in spaced parallel relation to the first mentioned contact post, a binding screw to couple a conductor to the second mentioned contact post, a disk of non-conducting material mounted to rotate on the stem and an annular row of spaced radially extending fuse wires carried by the disk selectively to engage the contact posts and bridge the gap therebetween,

and touch sensitive means to signal when a fuse wire bridges the gap between the contact posts.

3. A fuse protected attachment plug which includes a body having an axial opening therein. a tubular stem projecting from one side of the body in axial alignment with the opening, a pair of spaced parallel contact prongs projecting from the body opposite the stem, a binding screw by which a conductor may be electrically coupled with one of the prongs, a contact post extending through the body and coupled electrically with the opposite prongs, a second contact post extending through the body in spaced parallel relation to the first mentioned contact post, a binding screw to couple a conductor to the second mentioned contact post, a disk of non-conducting material mounted to rotate on the stem and an annular row of spaced radially extending fuse wires carried by the disk selectively to engage the contact posts and bridge the gap therebetween. and means detachably to support the disk on the post whereby when all of the fuse wires on a disk have been disrupted a disk having a new row of fuse wires may be substituted.

4. A fuse protected attachment plug which includes a body having an axial opening therein, a tubular stem projecting from one side of the body in axial alignment with the opening, a pair of spaced parallel contact prongs projecting from the body opposite the stem, a binding screw by which a conductor, may be electrically coupled with one of the prongs, a contact post extending through the body and coupled electrically with the opposite prongs, a second contact post extending through the body in spaced parallel relation to the first mentioned contact post, a binding screw to couple a conductor to the second mentioned contact post, a disk of non-conducting material mounted to rotate on the stem and an annular row of spaced radially extending. fuse wires carried by the disk selectively to engage the contact posts and bridge the gap therebetween. means detachably to support the disk on the post whereby when all of the fuse wires on a disk have been disrupted a disk having a new row of fuse wires may be substituted, and touch sensitive means to signal the post that a fuse wire is in gap bridging relation to the contact posts.

CARLOS MANTIILA. JOHN T. GRAFFIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,935,947 Harrison Nov. 21, 1933 1,900,926 Friesel Mar. 14, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 359,215 Germany Sept. 20, 1922 

